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The problem is once you look at the definitions it's actually quite hard to exactly define what's Fantasy vs Sci-fi. It's more a venn diagram, than strictly separate genres and everyone has their own definition of which is which. So when someone likes one but not the other, it's hard to discuss books because what one person considers sci-fi, another may consider fantasy pretending to be sci-fi, thus the complaints of the original commenter.

I particularly hate UI changes. There seems to be a constant trend in phone software to "improve" UI while disregarding the value of consistency and familiarity. Sure UI can be improved but if it's not a massive improvement the negatives of relearning the UI and retraining muscles memory far outweigh the positives. Same applies to features too, though often due to the UI changes that come with those features (Android Chrome's bullshit tab groups pushed me to Firefox).

As someone who does software for NHS Scotland, I can easily believe the tale of multiple difference directorates/orgs believing it was someone else's remit as the NHS is a super complex organization of organizations. But in your case specifically data protection laws probably made it far worse and that's true of pretty much any tech you build/deploy in the NHS. There are strict information governance rules that have to be followed for any personal information, even just emails, which exist for very good reasons and aren't particularly onerous, but they are strict so in situation like your where it's not clear who would own/be responsible for what you were offering I can could see them getting in the way.

Where in the NHS is that? Maybe just an English thing. I had to go private on my own dime and thankfully my GP took over prescribing, which is uncommon and becoming increasingly so. They also put me on the NHS waiting list, back when you could still get on it without being severe, and it was only last week I had my appointment almost 4 years after being put on the list.

Best Software Engineering advice I ever heard was at a conference talk by a guy called Dan North: "Think of code like surgery".

Basically Surgery is a means to an end (patient gets better) and a useful tool for achieving that but it's also dangerous so only used when necessary. If other treatments can fix the problem you try them first. If surgery is required you only do the minimum required to treat the issue.

Code is similar. More code means more maintenance, more tech debt, slower deliverables in future and higher risk of dependencies no one understands. So when coding ask "Can I fix this without code?" because if yes it's often easier in the long run and "What's the bare minimum/simplest code I need to write to fix the issue?".

Similar to comments above there's a difference between poly and open. I've not tried either but I've multiple good friends who are in "monogamish" relationships and it seems to work pretty well. For them the non-monogomy is just fun they have with others, but ultimately their partnership comes first. Otherwise it's very similar to the monogamy you describe but with agreed exceptions to sexual exclusivity.

It's not for everyone and it takes a lot communication (and low levels of jealousy) but it seems to work well at providing the structure and stability of marriage without forcing the full sexual exclusivity that some find constricting.

It's so rare around here

That explains it. If it's rare where you are it's probably fairly forecastable. Try living somewhere with regular rain, like the UK, and you'll quickly learn that it's hard to predict and forecasts don't count for much.

I think your hypothesis is correct but your reasoning is wrong. Few people are morbid enough to think "Oh my life sucks so why bother looking after myself". But if you're constantly stressed because you're struggling in life, small indulgences like smoking, alcohol and fast food/sugar are a lot harder to resist as they provide a much needed outlet/release.

Wow, is long covid legit a "political issue" in the US??

I looked into this previously, though it was a while ago so I no longer have the sources to hand. Nicotine is still addictive on it's own but when given to non-smokers in a non-tobacco form it's notably less addictive than smoking. Still addictive but far closer to coffee than cigarettes.

Some of this can be explained by different consumptions methods. For example in lozenges, gum and patches nicotine enters the bloodstream much slower than smoking or vaping so even if you consume the same overall amount the peak is lower slowing adaption. But that couldn't explain it entirely.

Having lived near both simultaneously I can tell you power lines definitely do makes noise while I'm genuinely having to google to confirm which wind turbines make noise because I never noticed.

Eh? Wind farms cause noise?? A massive windfarm was built on the hills behind the house I grew up on and I never heard any noise, even when visiting the extremely popular walking route that goes through them.

No one's suggesting 100% wind or solar but we can still improve the system with more. Plus both are incredibly quick to build compared to nuclear and fossil fuels, so if you're a country dependant on those (like the UK) it's one of the best ways to quickly improve your energy security.

Yeah, I remember it as a kid. But it surprised me when they brought it back because people rarely used it. I still don't really get the point of it tbh, scanning items as you pick them up just spreads out the faff of scanning things and slows people down in the aisles.

Smoking indoors is illegal in most of the EU already. I personally find the smell of cannabis smoke lingers a lot longer than tobacco.

Why were you on Adderall? ADHD? Personally I'd struggle to not have any stimulants even if I could have less.

So I don't know Canada but when the ban was first bought in in Scotland a lot of people, albeit still a minority, had similar views but within a year or two no one really cared.

It's not saying that. It's saying that the current oversight is highly flawed and urgently needs changed. You're falsely equating qualitative change to quantitive change.

My children had whittling knives from age 5, built their own fires when we went on walks, could explore into the small woodlands on their own soon after and walked home from school at age 7.

You can still do the former if you find a proper Scout group and the latter if you live in the right area. But it's a shame you need to actively look for these opportunities now.

It's not all or nothing. You can acknowledge that meritocracy is heavily exaggerated while still believing people have a significant level of control over their own lives.

Ah so do "free texts" in the USA include MMS? That might explain the continued usage. In the UK MMS often aren't included, if anything they're charged stupidly high, so you'd never send a pic via text message.

We had free texts before iPhones nevermind WhatsApp. Not unlimited but hundreds of SMSs a month was common. That said another thread here implied that carriers included MMS messages in free texts, not just SMS? If so that might explain as MMS aren't free in my experience.

Huh. How does that work with multimedia? Do US carriers not differentiate between SMS and MMS?

Interesting. In UK it was common (and still has I think?) for contracts/deals to include lots of free SMS texts but even then most people have readily moved to WhatsApp, Messenger etc.

In my mind texts quickly became like voicemails, something older people would use cause that's what they know but not something I'd want to use regularly if given the option.

Out of curiosity why does this matter? Do iPhone users not use WhatsApp or Messenger? Is this a USA specific thing? As a UK Android user I've never used iMessage and don't see any reason why I'd need or want to.

Tbf the porn law was an attempt to standardize porn regulations so they applied to porn sold via the internet the same way they applied to porn sold via traditional formats (DVDs, magazines etc). But the parts of the existing regulations were archaic and horrendously out of date, such as not allowing "depictions of cunnilingus" and they tried to standardise first before updating. I'm sure there were some puritans involved, but for the most part it was a badly handled attempt to fix a loophole in regulations not an active campaign to 'Porn depicting cunnilingus is illegal'.

I still find the concept of jaywalking absurd. It doesn't exist in the UK and I first heard about it from an American friend at Uni who was shocked I would "jaywalk" in front of a police officer. I genuinely thought she was winding me up.

You're overlooking the long history of sex work in most human civilizations. Fair enough if you morally disagree with it and wish it didn't exist but it's existent and the existence of people who provide and consume it is about as normal as it gets.

If you accept that sex work will always exist in some capacity then there are reasonable arguments that the existence of OnlyFans is a good thing, as the OnlyFans model of sex work is in many ways much better than traditional models for both the sex workers and the consumers. There are of course arguments against that too, but saying sex work is fundamentally immoral and thus OnlyFans should be stopped is naive and more importantly unhelpful when it comes to reducing the potential harm sex work can cause.

In England you mean. I'm not sure about Wales or NI but the system in Scotland is much better and still has similarly low fee's.

In Scotland sellers are legally required to provide a survey to potential buyer, known as the Home Report, which covers all the basics. While it doesn't go indepth on specific issues it does normally highlight them in the first place so you're far less likely to uncover surprise issues after buying. And if it does find potentially major issues the seller will often pay for a more indepth survey or to just get it fixed themselves as otherwise no one will consider the property. For example the home report for the first property I bought found damp which put most people off so the seller paid for a damp survey and quote to fix which they added to the HR. Even then it put a lot of people off and I got it £3k under valuation despite the quote to fix the damp being only £1.8k.

Also I'm not sure if it's the same down in England but "estate agents" in Scotland are all solicitors and thus regulated. Plus when you sell it's one fee to one company for everything and there's no faff about info going between agents and solicitors.

Is 100m^2 really considered cramp for a 3 bedroom? Admittedly I'm from the uk which is famed for our small home sizes. But I've been looking at 2 or 3 beds recently and anything over 80m^2 felt huge.